OPERATIONS: DEFENCE
RAF to recruit
female pilots
The Royal Air Force is to allow women pilots and navigators
for the first time since the service
was formed in 1918.
The move follows an Air Force
Board (AFB) study, and has the
"wholehearted backing" of the
Chief of the Air Staff, (CAS), Air
Chief Marshal Sir Peter Harding.
The RAF needs to recruit about
250 pilots and 100 navigators
each year, and women entrants
will be able to take a maximum
10 per cent of these totals. The
service faces a future
demographic trough (a lack of
people in the recruiting age
bracket arising from a decline in
the birth rate) which will increase
competition with industry for
recruits of the right calibre.
One factor which the AFB and
CAS says impressed them was
the high level of motivation and
professionalism displayed by
women pilots in the University
Air Squadrons, which can be
joined by undergraduates with no
obligation to join the RAF.
It is UK policy to not employ
women in combat roles, so the
female pilots and navigators will
not' fly fighters, strike/attack
aircraft, or ground-support heli
copters, but will be confined to
transports, tankers, airborne
early warning aircraft, and search
and rescue helicopters. In train
ing, female pilots will progress
as far as the Hawk, and it is
likely that women will
eventually instruct on this
aircraft in its advanced flying
training role.
The RAF has employed female
loadmasters for some time and,
with the advent of the Sentry
AEW. 1, has trained some female
fighter controllers for the AEW
role. The introduction of female
pilots will pose some problems in
the initial aircrew selection
process. At present, the
recruitment arid training of RAF
pilots and navigators is aimed at
producing aircrew for the fast-jet
community and then streaming
those students who prove unsuit
able for fast jets into multi-engine
fixed-wing or helicopter duties.
Some changes to the current
terms of service for women will
be necessary for those serving as
pilots and navigators. The
present right of women to leave
the service on or after marriage
will not be allowed until the RAF
has had a return in time of service
from completion of training. In
practice this will mean about six
years of service after leaving an
Operational Conversion Unit.
The current policy of mandatory
departure from the service
because of pregnancy will
continue, but in common with
other servicewomen, female
aircrew will be encouraged to
return after childbirth, providing
their circumstances permit them
to carry out their full range of
service .duties. •
University Air Squadron cadet pilot Sue Bryce-Smith tries a Hercules
SEA HARRIERS
TRAIN WITH EAVSBs
Royal Navy Sea Harriers of 801
Sqn have completed joint training
exercises with Spanish Navy EAV
SBs of 9 Escuadrilla. The Sea
Harriers operated from the new
Spanish Navy carrier Principe de
Asturias off Majorca, and from 9
Esc's base at Rota. The EAVSBs
later operated from HMS Ark
Royal in the North Sea and RNAS
Yeovilton, 801 Sqn's shore base.
Although armed with Sidewinders
for self-defence, the Spanish
Harrier lis are primarily attack
aircraft, while the Sea Harriers
are principally interceptors.
Syrians fly Libyan Fencers
Syrian Air Force pilots are being trained in the Soviet
Union to fly the Sukhoi Su-24
Fencer. There are indications
that some of the Syrian pilots
who have completed their train
ing are flying Su-24s already
delivered to the Libyan Air Force.
Deliveries of the Soviet deep-
penetration strike aircraft to Syria
have been delayed, but Israeli
analysts believe that the Fencers
will be delivered soon.
Sources in Libyan oppositon
groups claim that the country's
Su-24s are flown by Syrians. The
delivery of the Fencers to Libya a
few months ago surprised many
Middle Eastern analysts, because
the Soviet Union has not imple
mented the 1987 deal to sell the
aircraft to Syria.
One possibility is that some of
the Su-24s delivered to Libya will
eventually serve with the Syrian
Air Force. "This is a possibility,"
says Zeev Eytan, a senior analyst
in Tel Aviv's Jaffee Centre for
Strategic Studies. "Syria still has
budget problems, and Libya has
been known to stockpile weap
ons for other Arab countries." •
Israel sells Super Frelons
The Israeli Air Force is to sell its eight remaining Aero
spatiale SA.321 Super Frelons to
an unnamed Central American
country. The medium-lift heli
copters will be withdrawn from
service later this year, and over
hauled as part of the contract.
The aircraft, which entered
Israeli service in 1966, were orig
inally powered by three
Turbomeca Turmo 3Cs. These
engines were not suited to the
Israel's dusty conditions, and
were later changed for General
Electric T58s.
Selling the Super Frelons
leaves the Sikorsky CH-53 as the
IAF's only large transport
helicopter. •
UK enquiry into low flying
sorties, and examine the wider
policy questions of low flying
training in the UK by other
NATO nations and by UK forces
in other NATO countries.
Royal Air Force low-flying
sorties are normally restricted to
250ft minimum separation
distance (MSD), with occasional
special dispensations granted to
fly 100ft MSD over strictly con
trolled routes in remote, largely
uninhabited areas of the UK. •
The UK House of Commons Defence Committee is to
hold a major inquiry into military
low flying.
The Committee will examine
the UK military forces' proce
dures for controlling, co-ordirta-
ting, and monitoring low flying,
the balance struck between
safety and operational necessity,
and its cost-effectiveness. The
committee will also review the
frequency and effect of low-flying
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5 August 1989 13